The Philippine government will resume peace talks with the country’s communist rebels, in a bid to end decades of civil strife.
Authorities will re-engage with the New People’s Army (NPA), the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, for the first time in six years, both parties and facilitator Norway announced on Tuesday.
“The parties agree to a principled and peaceful resolution of the armed conflict,” the two sides said in a joint statement, adding that the peace talks will address “deep-rooted socioeconomic and political grievances.”
If negotiations succeed, the rebels will end their armed struggle and transform into a political movement, according to Norway, which has mediated the island nation’s peace process for around 20 years.
The Philippine government’s conflict with the NPA has raged for over 50 years, peaking in the 1980s, and killed more than 40,000 people.
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